[2011 Edition, updated with new polls in 2011]
© William L. Sinclair
This continues our series of top-ranked films by year, based on the Top Ranked 1000 Films on the Net, 2011 edition that we compiled.
Total Ranked Films in the 70's: 120 (down from 139)
- [ 1970 ] -
1. Conformist, The #45 - Bertolucci, Bernardo (photo rt)
2. Patton - Shaffner, Frank #313
3. Performance - Roeg, Nicolas/Donald Cammell #325
4. Five Easy Pieces - Rafelson, Bob #357
5. M*A*S*H - Altman, Robert #407
6. Tristana - Buñuel, Luis #441
7. Beyond the Valley of the Dolls - Meyer, Russ #450
8. Le Cercle Rouge - Melville, Jean-Pierre #535
9. Gimme Shelter - Maysles, Albert/David Maysles/Charlotte Zwerin #604
10. Claire's Knee - Rohmer, Eric #710
11. Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion - Petri, Elio #736
12. Le Boucher - Chabrol, Claude #800
13. Wild Child, The - Truffaut, François #904
14. Hart of London, The - Chambers, Jack #969
15. Spider's Stratagem, The - Bertolucci, Bernardo #992
[Gone: Husbands]
Best Picture: Patton
- [ 1971 ] -
1. Clockwork Orange, A - Kubrick, Stanley #59
2. French Connection, The - Friedkin, William #225
3. McCabe & Mrs. Miller - Altman, Robert #301
4. Last Picture Show, The - Bogdanovich, Peter #311
5. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul - Fassbinder, Rainer Werner #406
6. Harold and Maude - Ashby, Hal #448
7. Death in Venice - Visconti, Luchino #514
8. Dirty Harry - Siegel, Don #554
9. Walkabout - Roeg, Nicolas #607
10. Two-Lane Blacktop - Hellman, Monte #667
11. Straw Dogs - Peckinpah, Sam #718
12. Touch of Zen, A - Hu, King #879
13. Devils, The (Devils of Loudun) Russell, Ken #919
14. La Région Centrale - Snow, Michael #985
[Gone: Get Carter, Two English Girls, Murmur of the Heart]
Best Picture: French Connection, The
- [ 1972 ] -
1. Godfather, The #1 - Coppola, Francis
2. Aguirre: The Wrath of God #83 - Herzog, Werner (photo rt)
3. Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, The - Buñuel, Luis #99
4. Solaris - Tarkovsky, Andrei #115
5. Cabaret - Fosse, Bob #257
6. Cries and Whispers - Bergman, Ingmar #271
7. Deliverance - Boorman, John #356
8. Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, The - Fassbinder, Rainer Werner #600
[Gone: Sleuth, Ludwig, Fat City, Fellini's Roma, Pakeezah]
Best Picture: Godfather, The
- [ 1973 ] -
1. Exorcist, The - Friedkin, William #96
2. Spirit of the Beehive, The - Erice, Victor #140
3. Mean Streets - Scorsese, Martin #166
4. Badlands - Malick, Terrence #232
5. Amarcord - Fellini, Federico #253
6. Last Tango in Paris - Bertolucci, Bernardo #261
7. Day for Night - Truffaut, François #332
8. Don't Look Now - Roeg, Nicolas #340
9. Sting, The - Hill, George Roy #400
10. American Graffiti - Lucas, George #460
11. F for Fake - Welles, Orson #468
12. Mother and the Whore, The - Eustache, Jean #493
13. Long Goodbye, The - Altman, Robert #546
14. Scenes from a Marriage - Bergman, Ingmar #662
15. Serpico - Lumet, Sydney #836
16. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid - Peckinpah, Sam #936
[Gone: O Lucky Man!]
Best Picture: Sting, The
- [ 1974 ] -
1. Chinatown - Polanski, Roman #5
2. Godfather: Part II, The - Coppola, Francis #15
3. Conversation, The - Coppola, Francis #113
4. Woman Under the Influence, A - Cassavetes, John #177
5. Celine and Julie Go Boating - Rivette, Jacques #202
6. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The - Hooper, Tobe #247
7. Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, The - Herzog, Werner #553
8. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia - Peckinpah, Sam #586
9. Alice in the Cities - Wenders, Wim #702
10. Phantom of Liberty, The - Buñuel, Luis #826
11. Lancelot du Lac - Bresson, Robert #829
[Gone: Arabian Nights, Lacombe, Lucien, Out 1: Spectre]
Best Picture: Godfather: Part II, The
- [ 1975 ] -
1. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest #44 - Forman, Milos (photo rt)
2. Barry Lyndon - Kubrick, Stanley #56
3. Jaws - Spielberg, Steven #58
4. Monty Python and the Holy Grail - Gilliam, Terry/Terry Jones #87
5. Dog Day Afternoon - Lumet, Sidney #179
6. Jeanne Dielman,23 Quai du Commerce,1080 Bruxelles - Akerman, Chantal #200
7. Nashville - Altman, Robert #224
8. Passenger, The - Antonioni, Michelangelo #249
9. Salo, or the120 Days of Sodom - Pasolini, Pier Paolo #270
10. Travelling Players, The - Angelopoulos, Theo #562
11. Picnic at Hanging Rock - Weir, Peter #628
12. Dersu Uzala - Kurosawa, Akira #645
13. Overlord - Cooper, Stuart #801
14. India Song - Duras, Marguerite #849
15. Fox and His Friends - Fassbinder, Rainer Werner #956
[Done: Xala, Overlord, The Man Who Would Be King]
Best Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
- [ 1976 ] -
1. Taxi Driver #3 - Scorsese, Martin (photo rt)
2. Network - Lumet, Sidney #138
3. Rocky - Avildsen, John G. #274
4. Mirror, The - Tarkovsky, Andrei #306
5. All the President's Men - Pakula, Alan J. #453
6. 1900 - Bertolucci, Bernardo #502
7. Carrie - De Palma, Brian #508
8. Killing of a Chinese Bookie, The - Cassavetes, John #551
9. In the Realm of the Senses - Oshima, Nagisa #581
10. Kings of the Road - Wenders, Wim #641
11. Man Who Fell to Earth, The - Roeg, Nicolas #691
12. Fellini's Casanova - Fellini, Federico #841
13. Intruder, The (L'innocent,1976) Visconti, Luchino #966
[Gone: Man Who Fell to Earth, Outlaw Josey Wales, Assault on Precinct, The Tenant]
Best Picture: Rocky
[This was the 'crime of the century' - not only was Network about 10x better, but Sydney Lumet died in 2011 without ever winning a directing Oscar, losing to the forgotten John Avildsen of Rocky - shoot me now! Lumet directed Network, 12 Angry Men, The Verdict, Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico, The Pawnbroker, Fail-Safe, and many others - what else has Avildsen done? Can you name one other film? I can name 10 other boxing films better than Rocky off the top of my head: Golden Boy, Cinderella Man, Raging Bull, Requiem for a Heavyweight, The Fighter, Rocco and His Brothers, The Great White Hope, When We Were Kings, Million Dollar Baby, Ali. The boxing in Rocky just doesn't look real in the least]
- [ 1977 ] -
1. Annie Hall #77 - Allen, Woody (photo rt)
2. Killer of Sheep - Burnett, Charles #239
3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind - Spielberg, Steven #283 [photo top]
4. That Obscure Object of Desire - Buñuel, Luis #291
5. Suspiria - Argento, Dario #327
6. Eraserhead - Lynch, David #385
7. Providence - Resnais, Alain #716
[Gone: Ceddo, Hitler: A Film from Germany, Black Sunday, Saturday Night Fever, New York New York, ]
Best Picture: Annie Hall
- [ 1978 ] -
1. Star Wars - Lucas, George #8
2. Days of Heaven - Malick, Terrence #110
3. Deer Hunter, The - Cimino, Michael #111
4. Halloween - Carpenter, John #234
5. Dawn of the Dead - Romero, George A. #431
6. Tree of Wooden Clogs, The - Olmi, Ermanno #548
7. In a Year with13 Moons - Fassbinder, Rainer Werner #708
8. Last Waltz , The - Scorsese, Martin #794
9. Superman: The Movie - Donner, Richard #795
Best Picture: Deer Hunter, The
- [ 1979 ] -
1. Apocalypse Now - Coppola, Francis #22
2. Alien - Scott, Ridley #51
3. Manhattan - Allen, Woody #67 (photo rt) 4. Stalker - Tarkovsky, Andrei #299
5. Monty Python's Life of Brian - Jones, Terry #426
6. Tristana (1970) Buñuel, Luis #441
7. Marriage of Maria Braun, The - Fassbinder, Rainer Werner #478
8. All That Jazz - Fosse, Bob #547
9. Being There - Ashby, Hal #555
10. Breaking Away - Yates, Peter #856
11. Tin Drum, The - Schlöndorff, Volker #901
12. Quadrophenia - Roddam, Franc #918
[Gone: Kramer vs. Kramer]
Best Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
All Ranked Films of the Decade (four in the all-time top 10)
1. Godfather, The (1972) - Coppola, Francis #1
[Top film altogether in our compendium of all polls]
2. Taxi Driver (1976) Scorsese, Martin #3
3. Chinatown (1974) Polanski, Roman #5
4. Star Wars (A New Hope) (1978) Lucas, George #8
5. Godfather: Part II, The (1974) Coppola, Francis #15
6. Apocalypse Now (1979) Coppola, Francis #22
7. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) Forman, Milos #44
8. Conformist, The (1970) Bertolucci, Bernardo #45
9. Alien (1979) Scott, Ridley #51
10. Barry Lyndon (1975) Kubrick, Stanley #56
11. Jaws (1975) Spielberg, Steven #58
12. Clockwork Orange, A (1971) Kubrick, Stanley #59
13. Manhattan (1979) Allen, Woody #67
14. Annie Hall (1977) Allen, Woody #77
15. Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972) Herzog, Werner #83
16. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) Gilliam, Terry/Terry Jones #87
17. Exorcist, The (1973) Friedkin, William #96
18. Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, The (1972) Buñuel, Luis #99
19. Days of Heaven (1978) Malick, Terrence #110
20. Deer Hunter, The (1978) Cimino, Michael #111
21. Conversation, The (1974) Coppola, Francis #113
22. Solaris (1972) Tarkovsky, Andrei #115
23. Network (1976) Lumet, Sidney #138
24. Spirit of the Beehive, The (1973) Erice, Victor #140
25. Mean Streets (1973) Scorsese, Martin #166
26. Woman Under the Influence, A (1974) Cassavetes, John #177
27. Dog Day Afternoon (1975) Lumet, Sidney #179
28. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) Akerman, Chantal #200
29. Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974) Rivette, Jacques #202
30. Nashville (1975) Altman, Robert #224
31. French Connection, The (1971) Friedkin, William #225
32. Badlands (1973) Malick, Terrence #232
33. Halloween (1978) Carpenter, John #234
34. Killer of Sheep (1977) Burnett, Charles #239
35. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The (1974) Hooper, Tobe #247
36. Passenger, The (1975) Antonioni, Michelangelo #249
37. Amarcord (1973) Fellini, Federico #253
38. Cabaret (1972) Fosse, Bob #257
39. Last Tango in Paris (1973) Bertolucci, Bernardo #261
40. Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975) Pasolini, Pier Paolo #270
41. Cries and Whispers (1972) Bergman, Ingmar #271
42. Rocky (1976) Avildsen, John G. #274
43. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) Spielberg, Steven #283
44. That Obscure Object of Desire (1977) Buñuel, Luis #291
45. Stalker (1979) Tarkovsky, Andrei #299
46. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) Altman, Robert #301
47. Mirror, The (1976) Tarkovsky, Andrei #306
48. Last Picture Show, The (1971) Bogdanovich, Peter #311
49. Patton (1970) Shaffner, Frank #313
50. Performance (1970) Roeg, Nicolas/Donald Cammell #325
51. Suspiria (1977) Argento, Dario #327
52. Day for Night (1973) Truffaut, François #332
53. Don't Look Now (1973) Roeg, Nicolas #340
54. Deliverance (1972) Boorman, John #356
55. Five Easy Pieces (1970) Rafelson, Bob #357
56. Eraserhead (1977) Lynch, David #385
57. Sting, The (1973) Hill, George Roy #400
58. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1971) Fassbinder, Rainer Werner #406
59. M*A*S*H (1970) Altman, Robert #407
60. Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Jones, Terry #426
61. Dawn of the Dead (1978) Romero, George A. #431
62. Tristana (1970) Buñuel, Luis #441
63. Harold and Maude (1971) Ashby, Hal #448
64. Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) Meyer, Russ #450
65. All the President's Men (1972) Pakula, Alan J. #453
66. American Graffiti (1973) Lucas, George #460
67. F for Fake (1973) Welles, Orson #468
68. Marriage of Maria Braun, The (1979) Fassbinder, Rainer Werner #478
69. Mother and the Whore, The (1973) Eustache, Jean #493
70. 1900 (1976) Bertolucci, Bernardo #502
71. Carrie (1976) De Palma, Brian #508
72. Death in Venice (1971) Visconti, Luchino #514
73. Le Cercle Rouge (1970) Melville, Jean-Pierre #535
74. Long Goodbye, The (1973) Altman, Robert #546
75. All That Jazz (1979) Fosse, Bob #547
76. Tree of Wooden Clogs, The (1978) Olmi, Ermanno #548
77. Killing of a Chinese Bookie, The (1976) Cassavetes, John #551
78. Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, The (1974) Herzog, Werner #553
79. Dirty Harry (1971) Siegel, Don #554
80. Being There (1979) Ashby, Hal #555
81. Travelling Players, The (1975) Angelopoulos, Theo #562
82. In the Realm of the Senses (1976) Oshima, Nagisa #581
83. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) Peckinpah, Sam #586
84. Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, The (1972) Fassbinder, Rainer Werner #600
85. Gimme Shelter (1970) Maysles, Albert/David Maysles/Charlotte Zwerin #604
86. Walkabout (1971) Roeg, Nicolas #607
87. Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) Weir, Peter #628
88. Kings of the Road (1976) Wenders, Wim #641
89. Dersu Uzala (1975) Kurosawa, Akira #645
90. Scenes from a Marriage (1973) Bergman, Ingmar #662
91. Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) Hellman, Monte #667
92. Man Who Fell to Earth, The (1976) Roeg, Nicolas #691
93. Alice in the Cities (1974) Wenders, Wim #702
94. In a Year with 13 Moons (1978) Fassbinder, Rainer Werner #708
95. Claire's Knee (1970) Rohmer, Eric #710
96. Providence (1977) Resnais, Alain #716
97. Straw Dogs (1971) Peckinpah, Sam #718
98. Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970) Petri, Elio #736
99. Last Waltz , The (1978) Scorsese, Martin #794
100. Superman: The Movie (1978) Donner, Richard 795
101. Le Boucher (1970) Chabrol, Claude #800
102. Overlord (1975) Cooper, Stuart #801
103. Phantom of Liberty, The (1974) Buñuel, Luis #826
104. Lancelot du Lac (1974) Bresson, Robert #829
105. Serpico (1973) Lumet, Sydney #836
106. Fellini's Casanova (1976) Fellini, Federico #841
107. India Song (1975) Duras, Marguerite #849
108. Breaking Away (1979) Yates, Peter #856
109. Touch of Zen, A (1971) Hu, King #879
110. Tin Drum, The (1979) Schlöndorff, Volker #901
111. Wild Child, The (1970) Truffaut, François #904
112. Quadrophenia (1979) Roddam, Franc #918
113. The Devils (Devils of Loudun, 1971) Russell, Ken #919
114. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973) Peckinpah, Sam #936
115. Fox and His Friends (1975) Fassbinder, Rainer Werner #956
116. Intruder, The (L'innocent, 1976) Visconti, Luchino #966
117. Hart of London, The (1970) Chambers, Jack #969
118. La Région Centrale (1971) Snow, Michael #985
119. Spider's Stratagem, The (1970) Bertolucci, Bernardo #992
Unranked best pictures:
Kramer vs. Kramer (good, I wouldn't rank it either, even sewer rats will drown themselves to save their young; nothing special about parenting in the animal world, it's yer duty! If you can't be a good parent, you're lower than vermin!)
My favorites:
1-The Godfather II, 2-Apocalypse Now, 3-The Conformist, 4-The Conversation, 5-A Clockwork Orange, 6-The Godfather, 7-Network, 8-Taxi Driver, 9-The Deer Hunter, 10-Annie Hall, 11-One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, 12-McCabe and Mrs. Miller, 13-Manhattan, 14-Aguirre, the Wrath of God
[A Clockwork Orange, Apocalypse Now and Network should have also been best picture winners. Clockwork is ranked 400 positions higher than winner French Connection, and the film Apocalypse lost to isn't even ranked at all]
Note: I wasn't impressed with the 1st Star Wars (first too silly, then too ridiculous), much preferring The Empire Strikes Back; also liked Godfather II much more than I, it added Robert De Niro and Lee Strasburg, the chronological shifts with the early period in Italian - I'm always mesmerized by this and have seen it maybe 10 times vs. 3 for the first
Great list, but why use the retarded way of listing stuff? Spirit of Beehive, The; Erice, Victor - it's anal and annoying.
ReplyDeleteThey follow typical alphabetical listings.. otherwise in an alphabetical list of the top 1000 films, you'd have about 400 under "The" if you had that article first..
ReplyDeleteSame with directors, most expect to find Ford in the F's and Hitchcock in the H's, how about the people who don't know that Hitch's first name is Alfred? Hence, I used the standard conventions for alphabetical listing..
I could have gone back and edited every list by flipping the names back around, but as compiling this list took hundreds of hours, I wasn't willing to spend another hundred or so just to flip all the wording around for publishing..
I guess if you think this is 'retarded' then every library and encyclopedia in the world are also retarded for listing people by their last name first..
and why are you ANONYMOUS anyway, WHY are you afraid of revealing your true identity?? are you a wanted criminal or something??
Jose Sinclair (aka Sinclair, W.L.)
Catch 22, Carnal Knowledge & Lenny are missing! What's up?
ReplyDeleteJust wanna say, you seem to have put All The President's Men in 1972 instead of 1976. I was wondering why such a classic movie had been passed over!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the catch Jeremy
ReplyDeleteI finally fixed it. for some reason they quit notifying me of comments, they're supposed to..
done though and definitely high for the year at 5th..
Jose
Catch-22, Carnal Knowledge, and Lenny - hmmm.. I wouldn't rank Catch-22 either, they killed a hilarious novel.. Carnal Knowledge was underrated, esp Ann-Margret's performance.. and Lenny, perhaps a big boring and poorly paced to make critics polls, that was my problem with it.. of your 3 they overlooked, Knowledge may be best one, but still borderline top 1000..
ReplyDelete"thats just my opinion, I could be wrong" - Dennis Miller
I pretty much can't argue too much with your Best Of list, especially ranking Godfather 2 above Godfather 1. Godfather 2 has such a rich historical context and elegantly affirms the the original story's deepest insights into the power and value of heritage within the family, and how American society was so corrosive to those various traditions which historically had kept families together and communities functioning. America was demanding that all immigrants and newcomers abandon their Old World identities and adopt new ones that conformed with The American Myth of the independent, self made man. Coppola focused on that element of the book much more so in the sequel, and it's a stronger film for it.
ReplyDelete